Opening Your Home
"Use hospitality one to another without grudging." — 1 Peter 4:9
A Case That Ended Badly
A young woman had come out of horrific abuse and genuine occult bondage. She had given her life to Christ, and immediately the battle over her intensified.
Within a year she had been through at least three prolonged deliverance sessions. Every time, within a few weeks, she was worse off than before.
The problem was not that she had been incompletely delivered. The problem was that she was not strong enough to stand against it alone.
She needed to be taken into a believer's home and helped for a while. Several Christians involved in her case were told exactly that.
The answer was always the same: "None of us feel 'called' into that sort of thing."
She was eventually lost track of, suicidal at the last contact.
The Sentence We Use to Excuse Ourselves
"I don't feel called to that."
It is a remarkably effective phrase, because it sounds spiritual. It converts a refusal into a matter of discernment, and it cannot be argued with.
But not one of those people was willing to lay down their life for their sister. That is what it amounted to, whatever it was called.
Whose House Is It
Here is the principle, and it is uncomfortable:
Our homes belong to God and are for His use. Which means we no longer have an absolute right to our privacy, because there are people who need to be brought in.
Very few Christians ever hear the Lord asking them to take someone in — and the reason is not that He never asks. It is that we are so settled in this area that the question never registers.
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:2)
"Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality." (Romans 12:13)
"Use hospitality one to another without grudging." (1 Peter 4:9)
Hospitality in the New Testament is not entertaining friends. It is opening a door to someone who needs one.
The Necessary Wisdom
This must be said plainly, because the principle can be abused into real harm.
Use much wisdom, especially if there are small children in the home. Parents with young children should be extremely careful about who they bring in. That is not a lack of faith; it is a duty of protection, and it is not negotiable.
But that qualification does not cover everyone. There are many households without small children. Those should be willing to use their homes as God directs.
Know the difference between the caution God requires and the caution you have invented.
Point to Ponder
"I don't feel called to that" converts a refusal into a matter of discernment. It is remarkably effective.
Verse to Remember
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." — Hebrews 13:2
Question to Consider
Have I ever seriously offered my home to God, or have I only ever offered Him my Sundays?
Today's Practice
Offer the house, out loud, today:
"Father, this home is Yours. I release my right to its privacy. Use it as You choose. And if You want to bring someone in, tell me plainly and I will not pretend I did not hear."
Then think about who you already know who needs something.
Someone who needs a room for a season. Someone who needs a meal every week. Someone who needs to not be alone on Sunday afternoons. A young person with nowhere stable. Someone in the middle of a crisis who needs a safe place for a few nights.
Take one concrete step this week. Make the offer specifically and with a date attached — "come Thursday" rather than "come anytime." Vague invitations are declined.
If you genuinely cannot host — small children, a hostile spouse, real constraints — then find the adjacent thing you can do: pay for something, drive someone, cover a cost, take a meal.
Prayer
Father, I have guarded my home as though it were mine.
I have used the language of calling to avoid the cost of hospitality. I have said I did not feel led when the truth was that I did not feel willing.
This house is Yours. I give You the keys. Use it however You choose.
Show me who needs a door opened. Give me wisdom where wisdom is genuinely required — I will not be careless with the people already in my care. But do not let me hide behind that.
And where someone is being lost right now for want of a place to stay and someone to stand with them, make me willing to be that person.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
She was not incompletely delivered. She was simply not strong enough to stand alone, and no one would stand with her.